After
Mississippi became a state, the Indians were removed between 1830
and 1840, and about 7,500,000 acres of land were sold.
The
wealthy aristocrats of Natchez, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee
were beginning to recognize the fact that this was rich land and
began to seek government land grants in this area by 1820 and 1830.
The
corn was high, the cotton was great, and there was no longer an
Indian threat. Wild game was plentiful and this was a land of opportunity
for those willing to brave the wild, uncleared and unhealthy territory.
The
first large land grant of this area was awarded in 1832 to William
Hamer of Warren County and probably from Vicksburg, and Alvarez
Fisk, a wealthy Natchez aristocrat. Hamer must have been a land
speculator, as his half of the grant was sold immediately to Fisk.
The
first records refer to his property as Fisk Plantation, and later
it is recorded as Fisk or Belzoni Plantation.
Mr.
Fisk played a prominent role in educational, philanthropic and religious
activities. He founded and donated the property for the library
which was once called the Fisk Library or the Natchez Public Library.
Mr. Fisk also gave Natchez property upon which to construct the
Natchez Institute, a public school.
Mr.
Fisk was a shrewd business man and knew a good thing when he saw
it. Such an opportunity occurred in 1832 when he obtained a sizable
portion of land which now comprised the Belzoni area.
Government
entry of the Fisk-Hamer land grant is dated May 2, 1832. The consideration
on the grant was listed as $217.75.
Three
years later we find that Fisk gave a General Warranty Deed to A.T.
McMurtray, Stephen Castleman, and Oscar Ross. They were sold only
a portion of the land (on the east side of the river) for $80,000
described as a tract lying in Washington County fronting on river,
60 miles above Manchester (the name of Yazoo City then) consisting
of 2,120 acres.
The
Fisk family retained the land on the west side of the Yazoo River,
known as Fisk Landing or Belzoni Landing, a part of Belzoni Plantation,
and what is now the City of Belzoni. Alvarez Fisk so admired The
Great Belzoni that he named his plantation for this Italian showman,
engineer, and explorer of Egyptian antiquities.
The
first settlement was at Burtonia Landing, a little south of Fisk
Landing, but due to the area burning in 1888, the entire population
moved farther up the river and began to rebuild on the present site
of the City of Belzoni. First known as “Greasy Row” for
the row of saloons along the river front, it was in 1895 that Steve
Castleman went to Jackson to see Governor Stone and secured a charter
of incorporation from the state naming Belzoni a village. Steve
Castleman was appointed the first Mayor.
The
first fight for Humphreys County began as far back as 1870 when
Col. James R. Powell, owner of Daybreak, conceived the idea of forming
a new county from parts of the other counties. With Burtonia as
the county seat, the new county was to be named Powell County.
He
had a survey and map of the county made and went before the legislature
that year. He fought the battle practically alone, and went before
every Legislature for something like 12 years. When he died and
efforts for the new county seemed to have died with him, nothing
more was done about it until ten years later when Col. R. V. Powers
of Silver City caught the vision and undertook to renew the fight.
He was unsuccessful in his attempts. In 1912 the fight was renewed,
but failed. In 1916 a new administration was put in power and state
politics again entered the matter. In 1918 the fight was renewed
proposing to name the county Humphreys.
The
facts and figures published and scattered on the desks of the Senators
and Representatives were that the creation of the county would take
from Washington County 155 square miles leaving that county 722
square miles. From Sharkey it would take 18 square miles, leaving
2465; from Sunflower some 22 square miles leaving 668; from Yazoo
143 Square miles leaving 895; and from Holmes 74 square miles leaving
760 - thus making Humphreys County 412 square miles. Humphreys County
was named for former Governor Benjamin Grubbs Humphreys, 1865-1868.
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